The present invention relates to the field of plug-in modules and more particularly to plug-in modules for connecting a refrigerated semiconductor device to an air-cooled printed circuit board.
The benefits of operating certain types of integrated circuits from cooler temperatures down to cryogenic temperatures is well known. For some types of integrated circuits the resistance decreases and the switching speed increases as the operating temperature decreases towards absolute zero. For example, when a cryogenic temperature of liquid nitrogen, i.e. -196.degree. C., is applied to a VLSI CMOS integrated circuit the switching speed increases as described in allowed U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,622 issued Jan. 24, 1989. J. Sanwo entitled "A FROSTLESS INTERFACE SUPERCOOLED VLSI SYSTEM", which is hereby incorporated by reference.
One problem associated with refrigerating a VLSI circuit is the moisture which condenses on the leads running between the refrigerated VLSI circuit and the room temperature electronic equipment it connects with. If frost gathers, the frost will thicken until its outer surface loses the capacity to freeze additional airborne moisture. If, however, the surface temperature of the frost is colder than the dew point of the surrounding room-temperature environment (which it nearly always is), moisture will continue to collect as dripping water. Such a frost build-up can impose undesirable physical stresses on components, and can cause signal leakage/crosstalk between electrical leads. Water pools can cause corrosion and electrical short circuits. Such conditions are not acceptable in a high speed electronic system.
It is an object of this invention to provide a system for connecting a refrigerated VLSI circuit to a room temperature system which does not collect frost or moisture.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a connecting system that has an integral heater approximately located to the egress of the electrical leads from the connecting system.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a connecting system having a device for controlling the temperature of the electrical leads.